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How to become well-informed about the current context in which public employees are working? Join and become an active union member!

Faculty of all ranks at Rutgers University are public employees and therefore qualify for union membership, even if your salary comes from external grants. The information below illustrates the many ways that full membership is important. The true difference between the nonmember representation fee and full membership is that full union members know the value of having a union. They are ready to stand by their colleagues and have claimed their democratic right to have a voice in improving and defending their employment. If you are paying only the nonmember representation fee, you are not a member of the union. New Jersey state labor law requires the deduction of this fee from nonmembers where there is a public sector union with the duty of fair representation for all employees in a union bargaining unit. Becoming a member of the union is not about the money. The additional .01% that you pay a year serves as a pledge to stand alongside your colleagues and protect and enrich your quality of work.

And though our union has been established and strong since 1972, corporatizing interests make the threat of weakening our union very real. There are attacks being levied against public sector unions everyday, from our state legislators, to our governor, and most recently by our federal supreme court. The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, was the first attempt to deny free speech rights to unions and weaken our ability to act in the collective interest.

After the Friedrichs case ended on a 4-4 tie, the US Supreme Court has taken up another case in which the constitutionality of the nonmember representation fee is being challenged: Janus v AFSCME.

Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court for the Janus case are scheduled to begin on February 26, 2018. Read the amicus brief filed by AFT and NEA here.

The plaintiffs argued that they are being forced to pay an representation fee for political activities and speech with which they do not agree. The reality is that the erasure of representation fee would be a financial death blow for unons across the country. At Rutgers, the blow would have disallowed your staff. member leaders, and yourself from forcefully protecting what you've gained as a union. In short: all the terms and conditions of employment that we have achieved over the years and most recently fought for, e.g. regular salary increases, fair evaluation and promotion procedures, key protections (such as tenure or no dismissal without a legitimate reason), and more would be at the risk of being lost.

For now, the union's right to collect a representation fee remains the law, but it appears that the U.S. Supreme Court may decide that any law in any state that requires a nonmember fee for employees represented by a public sector union. Without a union wages and benefits are reduced and made competitive, and you must ask yourself -- who would this benefit? Not you, not your students, but corporate interests. Going forward, the only thing that stands between us and a similar attack in New Jersey is a robust, healthy union. This is why your membership is so important.

-If you are a full member, consult with us (your elected leaders and staff) to get conversations going among your colleagues about the value of being a union with active members.

-If you are paying the representation fee, you may have thought that you were already a member. Reach out to us to schedule time to claim your right to have a voice in your union as a full member.

With the union, we can advocate more effectively because we are developing member-defined issues and policies to fight for. We work together to make sure Rutgers fulfills its educational and research mission for the common good.

A new scholarship has been created that is available to the family members of union members, if they are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey. If you are a full union member of Rutgers AAUP-AFT in any of our bargaining units, you and your family members are eligible, if the other eligibility criteria are met. The deadline will be every year in June.

“Rather than blame faculty and staff, I’d prefer to see management and labor close ranks to advocate for increased state funding the way we did recently to successfully win an addition $1 million after cuts were threatened for the Educational Opportunity Fund that helps low-income students,” Professor Deepa Kumar said.

The Rutgers AAUP-AFT has benefited greatly from the expertise of Dr. Howard Bunsis, especially when we were negotiating the 2014-2018 Collective Bargaining Agreement for the full-time faculty and TA-GA bargaining unit.

In response to threats to Dr. Puar, the Executive Council reaffirms that academic freedom protects all scholarly research and communication, including criticism of the actions and morality of any government or non-state actor. The Union offers advice, training, and legal protection to any faculty member facing similar attacks from within or outside Rutgers University.

On February 26, 2016, President David M Hughes sent the following message to our members who are full-time faculty and teaching assistants-graduate assistants. The Executive Council and President Barchi both independently reaffirm commitment to academic freedom.

A call for nominations has been sent out to full union members for Newark, Camden, and New Brunswick Chapter Officers and Chapter Executive Committee members as well as a few seats on the Executive Council.

President David M. Hughes sent out the following message to members, letting them know how we are working to resist the imposition of Microsoft Office 365 and to stop the administration's corporate-style overreach in terms of surveillance of faculty email.

Members of the faculty union's Executive Council voted to pass this resolution standing with the Native Americans and allies who are defending water and burial grounds against the Dakota Access Pipeline

Join the national day of action at rallies planned to start at 3pm on Wed, November 16--info on rallies scheduled for Voorhees Mall (College Ave Campus-New Brunswick) and Paul Robeson Campus Center (Rutgers-Newark)!

We write with what the economist Albert Hirschman called “a bias for hope.” The horizon for teaching and scholarship in the United States darkened somewhat on Inauguration Day. Yet opposition is already coalescing and, indeed, academics and others are presenting arguments and forging alliances that did not exist before.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) – to which our Union belongs – is monitoring this situation very closely and will be updating the Rutgers AAUP-AFT faculty union immediately upon any change to the “Muslim ban.” Please consult with your union if you have any questions.

This guide is the result of a collaboration between various individuals and organizations in an effort to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information on President Trump’s executive order. All information will be made available in Arabic, Persian, Somali, Urdu, and Western Armenian, thanks to the generosity of volunteers.

Just like protesters who have taken to the streets and airports -- for the Women's March and against the #MuslimBan -- scientists are planning to march. The national organizing group behind the March for Science in Washington announced in a tweet that they will rally on April 22 -- Earth Day. Our first Rutgers AAUP-AFT organizing meeting for the march is Weds., Feb. 15, 5pm, 11 Stone St.

The faculty union's Executive Council signed on to a Friends of the Earth petition on March 7, standing in solidarity with environmental activists who are raising questions about TIAA investments that fund deforestation, land grabbing, and human rights violations.

Ballots are sent via the regular USPS to the home address the union has on file. Follow instructions that come with your ballot materials. Return Ballot no later than 3pm on May 1, 2017 to:
Rutgers AAUP-AFT, 11 Stone Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Ballots are sent via the regular USPS to the home address the union has on file. Follow instructions that come with your ballot materials. Return Ballot no later than 3pm on May 1, 2017 to Rutgers AAUP-AFT, 11 Stone Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Ballots are sent via the regular USPS to the home address the union has on file. Follow instructions that come with your ballot materials. Return Ballot no later than 3pm on May 1, 2017 to Rutgers AAUP-AFT, 11 Stone Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Elected leaders of the several bargaining units have seats on the Executive Council. Meetings of this Council are held monthly at 9:30 AM at the AAUP-AFT Office at 11 Stone Street, New Brunswick, College Avenue Campus.

Rutgers agrees to provide protections in step with the demand for sanctuary campus

Part-Time Lecturers Speak-Out for Dignity & Equity at Rutgers

As part-time lecturers, we teach many of the courses at Rutgers - why doesn't the university treat us with the dignity and respect that we deserve? The corporatization of higher education hurts all of us.